Five Days In Paris
by MadForSpike
Summary: Buffy is attending Oxford University and is heading to Paris for a trip with her Art History Class, leaving her brooding boyfriend Angel behind. Buffy has a major crush on Spike, who is dating Harmony, but keeps sending her mixed signals. With the temptation of Spike in close proximity and Angel back in England, could something happen between them in the city of lovers? AU Human
1. Chapter One: Prologue

***Chapter One: Prologue***

"_Sometimes it's the smallest decisions that can change your life forever." _– Keri Russell

From the diary of Buffy Anne Summers...

_I have recently made the biggest life changing decision of my life so far by choosing to move from Sunnydale California to Oxfordshire, England, to attend a History of Art Course at one of the world's leading Universities in the world, Oxford University. Despite having initial doubts about moving half way round the world, my mom made me realise that this was an opportunity of a life time that I couldn't pass up, so I packed my bags and left behind the life I knew. My decision was made somewhat easier by the fact that my two best friends, Willow and Xander, decided to take the lengthy journey with me. Willow, who of course excelled in everything at high school, to my surprise decided to take Art History with me while Xander achieved a scholarship on the photography course after discovering a deeply hidden talent for photography in senior year. _

_I'm currently dating a guy called Angel, who I met after just a couple of months In England. He is a History major and a complete sweetheart, who unfortunately spends most of his time brooding. In the beginning of our relationship being treated as a princess was rather flattering, as I had never had anyone treat me with such care and consideration before. Regrettably this quickly got very infuriating and frustrating, and along with the steadily increasing jealously and fixation he has with anything relating to our relationship, things are turning a bit sour, well for me at least._

_I totally have a crush on a guy in my class who goes by the name of Spike, who is currently fooling around with a girl called Harmony, who is a complete idiot. I don't think anyone believes that she got into Oxford on her own merit, it's just seems very convenient that her daddy is on the school board. Nevertheless, when I first got here I thought Spike was dating a girl named Faith, as they always seemed to be together and I never saw them apart. However as it turned out, to my elation, they are just best friends who have known each other since they were in nappies. I of course ended up feeling rather stupid, as all the glaring and cursing aimed at them had been for nothing. Faith and I actually laughed about it when I told her and now we are also best friends, even though she can be a little crazy at times, Spike tells me this is part of her charm._

_Faith actually used to date Xander up to a few months ago, until he cheated on her with his current girlfriend Drusilla. Faith has understandably never forgiven him, and understandably so, but we all know that she still carries a torch for him and the same is said for Xander. None of us actually believe that he cheated on Faith on his own volition, as there is something very weird and creepy about Drusilla, which oddly seems to enthral most men._

_Spike and I have a very complicated relationship, I completely fancy the pants off him and he of course doesn't know; besides I don't think he feels the same way about me anyhow. We were getting very close just before I met Angel; however, by the time it came around for me to decide whether to get together with Angel or to see where this thing with Spike was going, I found him getting all hot and heavy with Harmony. We have snogged a few times since then, which has always left me feeling guilty as I'm with Angel. But sometimes it's as if we end up being drawn together, especially when we are feeling down about our relationships; however we always pass it off as a moment of weakness and have decided to stay friends nonetheless. To make this all the more complicated, Spike, Faith, Drusilla, Xander, Willow, Oz, Harmony and I are headed off for the trip of a lifetime to Paris, for our collective Art courses, leaving Angel and the comfort of the Oxford Campus behind._

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**Authors Note: It seems ridiculous to me that I have been writing this story for almost 9 years. I've always had a nagging voice in the back of my head to get it finished. So finally after all this time I am posting the complete story in its entirety, rewritten and hopefully improving on my 17 year old self's writing skills. I hope you enjoy the finished story and can forgive any dodgy spelling and grammar skills that may still remain – I never did find a Beta. **


	2. Chapter Two: Thursday

***Chapter Two: Thursday***

_I'm starting to feel like I'm having a teenage mid-life crisis or something! On Saturday I am heading off to "The City of Light" with my best friends, completely parent free and without my brooding boyfriend. I know I'm going to have a fantastic time but I have some major things to worry about. Such as, how am I going to cope in one of the most romantic cites in the world, with the temptation of having Spike around in close proximity? What if I give into temptation with Angel not being around? On one hand I know I would break Angel's heart if I did, he continually tells me that he loves me even if I don't say it back to him anymore and on the other hand, I honestly don't know how long I can keep this up, it's killing my inside. As luck would have it Angel hasn't noticed that I haven't said it back for so long, so shall I try and make an effort and give it a proper go with him? I know deep down it is the sensible thing to do, seeming as Spike is so unpredictable and obviously not the steady choice. However all I know, is that when Spike smiles at me, I lose all sense of reason and more when he does that sexy smirk of his, I then forget who I am and what I'm doing, but is that enough? This is all getting way too heavy to think about; the fact that Harmony is going to be in Paris with us should put a stop to all this irrational thinking anyway. But the question is should I follow my heart and not my head as I have been doing? _

I spent nearly the whole of Thursday lunchtime sat in the canteen with Faith, deciding what clothes to take with me to Paris. However this ended up proving more difficult than I first imagined, as everything I suggested taking with me, Faith decided she needed to 'borrow' said item. So in the idea of progress, we decided to just merge both our suitcases and share the clothes between us, therefore we would both have twice as much to choose from. I'm not sure how this arrangement will benefit me as all Faith seems to own is a couple of pairs of leather trousers and a bunch of black t-shirts. I actually think the real reason she wants to share, is just so she gets the chance to wear some of my vast collection of clothes, but at least we are the same size and besides, I've always wanted to try on some of her leather trousers. Faith has invited herself to stay over at my dorm room Friday night, officially so she can help me with my packing but the real reason for it is so she can sneakily hitch a lift to the coach with me and Oz, who offered to give me a lift and who is the only one out of us, not including Spike, that can drive.

After deciding we were going to share clothes, I spent the rest of lunchtime trying to memorise my wardrobe and help make suggestions in what to take with us. With my eyes shut in concentration, I was too busy trying to dictate my clothing collection by memory to Faith that I didn't even notice that Spike had pulled up a chair right in front of me and had begun to stare at me intently, in that way he does, totally unreadable and enthralling. Being totally oblivious to his presence, I continued my entire run down of my collection, opening my eyes suddenly at my conclusion, to find Spike staring straight at me, catching me off guard completely. I jumped out of my skin and in turn I upended half a can of diet coke on myself.

"Damn it Spike! Why do you have to be so damn sneaky?" I yelled whilst pulling my now sodden top away from my body.

"I've been sat here for a whole five minutes luv, you shouldn't be so jumpy." Spike said casually whilst leaning over to steal a fry off my plate. I didn't bother answering him and just did what I do best and glared at him while dabbing my top with a paper towel, that Faith passed over while trying; not very well I might add, to stifle her laugh. I just kept thinking that it was a good job that I decided to wear a black top today and not the white one I was going to wear.

"So what were you thinking so hard about then pet?" Spike said taking a sip out of what was left of my coke. I swear that boy never buys his own lunch!

"Oh B is having trouble deciding on what clothes to take to Paris." Faith said leaning back in her chair.

Spike just smirked at me and said, "What? You wear the same thing every day, jeans and a black top, you never change."

"Well actually I nearly wore a white top today." I said feeling quite smug with myself until I saw the sexy smirk on Spikes face and knew he was thinking exactly the same thing as me, wet see through t-shirt! "Good Job I didn't eh?" I shot back whilst desperately trying to repress the red hue of embarrassment creeping up cheeks. "Anyway, says you whose always wearing the same black jeans, black t-shirt and that leather coat of yours!"

"Oi! Don't diss the coat! It's an antique and anyway I've brought some new clothes for this trip." He said leaning back in his chair feeling rather pleased with him-self.

"What a new pair of black jeans?" I teased, which promptly made his smirk fall, I was obviously right. Faith and I just looked at each other and burst out laughing, he just gave us a look but ended up smiling at us.

"Are you coming to class?" Spike said after we had finally calmed down, pushing himself out of the chair with little effort. We both nodded in agreement and followed Spike out of the canteen doors.

Spike, Faith, and I shared the back row of our Art History class during lectures, so we can chat between ourselves without Mr Giles being able to see or hear; well this is the theory anyway.

"So are you seeing Angel before we go?" Asked Faith not nearly quietly enough as Mr Giles shot a look in her direction.

"Yea tonight, he's taking me out for dinner." I whispered back whilst pretending to take notes.

"Aww is he going to cry coz he's not going to see you for a whole five days and brood the whole time you are gone?" mimicked Spike in a whiny voice.

I shot Spike an evil glare, I wasn't impressed, he above all people knew how much my relationship with Angel got me down. I didn't speak to him for the rest of class.

Unfortunately, as usual Spike wasn't far wrong. Angel took me out to a nice restaurant and spent the whole evening on the other side of the table brooding and telling me how much he was going to miss me. To a degree I found it sweet and endearing, I just wish sometimes he would stop! He is so in love with me, that at times it's sickening. I just feel so wretched that I can't give him what he needs in return at the moment.

"Five days isn't long Angel, I'll be back before you know it." I said taking another forkful of my pasta.

"But what am I going to do without you?" He said in almost the same whiny voice Spike had mimicked earlier in class.

"I don't know read or something?" I almost spat back, instantly feeling guilty as Angels head dropped and he started brooding again. I just want to slap him sometimes and tell him to snap out of it.

Has his hair always stuck up like that?

Angel had decided it would be romantic to take the walk home through the park. I honestly didn't care where we went, I just wished for once that he would stop and kiss me till I was breathless, just once, but that unfortunately wasn't his style. So we just walked hand in hand through the park towards my dorm in comfortable silence. I could see my dorm coming into view when Angel stopped me at the edge of the park.

"Buffy, I have a present for you."

My head screamed yes, this is it! He's finally going to kiss me senseless. Instead, he let go of my hand, fumbled inside of his pocket, and pulled out a small black velvet box and I instantly panicked. What if he was trying to propose to me? I would destroy him if I said no.

"Open it." He said almost urgently.

He offered the box to me and I cast an apprehensive look at him as I took it from his waiting hands, he looked so nervous which made my stomach twist into knots. All I kept thinking was that if he were going to ask me to marry him he would have got down on one knee by now. So clinging to that hope I opened the box to find a delicate gold necklace with a flat heart charm engraved with 'I love you.' My first thought was, thank god it wasn't an engagement ring which was quickly followed by, and this is so not my kind of thing. Realising then that I hadn't said anything and Angel was still patiently waiting for a response I smiled up at him and said 'Thank you it's lovely', hoping that I had hid my disappointment and my relief at the same time.

Angel then walked me to the front of my building; I kissed him on the cheek, thanked him for a nice evening and then walked to my room alone. I could feel him watching me as I entered my building, probably with a look somewhere between delight and brooding. When I eventually reached the solace of my room I sighed and leaned back up against my closed door. Part of me felt sorry for Angel, as he was so expectant and I just felt like I couldn't tell him that I didn't like my necklace. Is it wrong to think that after two years together he would have had some idea about what I liked? As quietly as I could, as to not wake Willow, I placed the necklace into the top draw of my chest of draws and collapsed into bed.


	3. Chapter Three: Friday

***Chapter Three: Friday***

Classes seemed to drag on Friday, it could have been down to the fact that we were all so excited about the trip or the more likely reason, the two hour itinerary meeting that we all had with Giles that bored us all to tears! I still couldn't bring myself to talk to Spike and spent the best part on the day avoiding him. I couldn't bear the thought of him teasing me about my date last night and even worse, I knew everything he'd say would be true. Spike knew me better than anyone, he could see me for who I was and see straight through any barrier I threw up to protect myself. This is why it hurts more than anyone realises when he teases me. I just don't understand why he does it, Is it out of spite or shall I listen to Faith and Willow when they say it's jealously? Part of me wants to believe the latter but surely, by now, he would have admitted his feelings to me, wouldn't he? Then again, do I go with my first instinct and believe that he just wants to be friends because he feels nothing for me?

When we had finally finished for the day Faith and I made our way over to my dorm room to start the monstrous task of packing for Paris.

"What's this B?" Faith said holding the velvet box that contained my necklace from Angel. Before I could stop her she had opened the box and had lifted out the gold chain. I silently cursed myself that I hadn't hid the offending object better, but it was only a matter of time before she found it, as Faith had taken it upon herself to turf out my draws.

"Not really my thing is it?" I said turning back to fold my favourite pink hoody and placing it atop my already full suitcase.

"Well no, even I could have told him that! I know you hate gold jewellery." Faith sniggered and stuffed the necklace back into the depths of my draw.

"Thank you!" I said throwing my hands up into the air dramatically "I don't understand why he would choose something like that for me, as all I ever wear is costume jewellery. If I were to choose a necklace as delicate as that, it would have to be white gold or at very least silver!"

"Sounds more like something Spike would buy a girl." Faith said and I shot her my most evil glare and threw a wad of balled up socks at her.

"Come on B I know your totally sweet on him." She laughed from behind her hands as she tried to protect herself from the flying socks.

"I am not." I said quietly ceasing my attack.

"Come on Buffy your totally obsessed with the guy. I also don't believe in all this being friends rubbish either, even I can see that you're drawn together."

"Yea whatever… Well what about you Faithy, thinking something could happen for you in the city of lovers?" I said turning back to my suitcase.

"What do you mean?"

"Come on, I know your still in love with Xander."

"Ah well I may have that sorted, I have a plan."

"Oh really?" I said turning back to give her an inquisitive look.

"Really." She said giving me a smug smile and nod.

"Hmm okay then… I guess I'll just have to wait and find out." I said smiling at her staring off into space.

Faith and I were still trying to fit all our clothes in our suitcases at midnight, despite the fact that we had to get up at three thirty for our lift to the coach. Faith had brought over at least two caseloads with her and I had just as much, it was just limiting it down that was causing the problem.

"Come on B you need to pack more than black tank tops and jeans!"

"Well they're comfortable!" I said defensively "At least I haven't packed an entire case load of leather and short skirts." We just ended up smirking at each other; we knew each other too well.

In the end we decided that it would be fun to pack for each other, with the rule that we each had to wear what the other had packed for us with no switching. When Faith was done I ended up with a few pairs of jeans, a variety of different coloured tops, a couple of dresses, a couple of skirts and a pair of leather trousers. I apparently also had a few other items which were a surprise, knowing Faith this worried me slightly!

When we had finally finished squeezing our cases closed we collapsed on to my bed and laid back, both of us feeling absolutely exhausted. I looked over at my bedside table; my alarm clock showed that it was one thirty in the morning. Thinking maybe that it was about time we got some sleep, we both changed into our pyjamas and got into bed.

"I'm really glad I came to England." I said staring at ceiling.

"I'm glad you did too B. What would I do without you now, were best buds aren't we?"

"Yea of course, it was a lot easier making friends than I thought it would be. Bringing a few with me helped as well obviously."

"Once you stopped staring daggers at me you mean." Faith said, lightly punching me in the arm.

"Oi!"

I could feel myself drifting off to sleep when I realised I'd forgotten to pack any shoes to go with my outfits or the ones Faith had picked for me. Jumping straight out of bed, I stuffed a few pairs of shoes into my suitcase, now beyond caring what I packed as I just wanted to get some sleep. Faith was already half-asleep and hogging the bed as usual. Lucky for me I had a double bed so I just turned out the light, pushed her over and slid in next to her and closed my eyes.

"B?"

"Yea?"

"Do you think Xander still wants me?"

"Umm maybe, I'm not really sure; don't get much time to talk to him anymore with Drusilla around." A few minutes past and Faith said nothing.

"B?"

"Yea?"

"You like Spike don't you?"

"Go to sleep Faith" I sighed and rolled over.

Again a few minutes past "Faith?"

"Yea B?"

"Do you think Spike fancies me?"

"Are you blind? Go to sleep."

"Night Faithy."

"Night B."


	4. Chapter Four: Saturday Morning

***Chapter Four: Saturday Morning*******

I drifted off into a somewhat disturbed sleep, disturbed because Faith is all arms and legs when she is asleep and I spent most of the night clutching to the edge of the bed. When I finally managed to drop off, the next thing I knew my two alarm clocks I had set for myself were going off - because sometimes I can be neurotic - giving us half hour to get up and sort ourselves out. Luckily, Faith was weirdly a morning person, which was good for me because frankly I couldn't deal with one of her moods on top of the horrible one I was having. It must have been to do with the whole Angel verses Spike thing that I had going on in my head last night, which was all I could think about in the periods where I was wide-awake, clutching to the remaining bed space. Come to think of it, it would be quite interesting if they both got into a fight for my honour, perhaps shirtless and with some kind of oil involved…

Oz and Willow arrived in the minivan at four am to take us to where we were catching the coach to Paris. Although it was only a ten minute walk, we each had a suitcase and hand luggage so it would have probably taken us over half an hour to drag our stuff to the far side of the campus. Also, Willow didn't want us walking around at four o'clock in the morning understandably. Faith much to my demise looked fresh as a daisy even at the untimely hour. In the half hour she had to get ready, she had managed to do her hair, put her makeup on and even still managed to dress to kill in figure hugging leather trousers, red tank top and matching leather jacket. I on the other hand was totally not a morning person and had only managed to put my hair up in a messy bun, had made no effort to put any makeup on and had chosen to hide myself in my baggy pink hoody and matching bottoms, which I had to pull out of my case as I had packed them by accident.

We made it to the coach in good time, being organised and all but not all of us did. Drusilla of all people ended up being twenty minutes late with no good excuse at all. It seems she got lost and forgot what she was supposed to be doing. Fortunately Xander found her eventually, sat in the park alas minus her suitcase, which they both had to rush back to her dorm room and get - Faith and I have concluded that she's not all there mentally. At least Faith and I got seats away from the weird couple as Spike had saved us a couple in front of him towards the back of the coach. Spike thankfully was on his own because he and Harmony had fallen out and had broken up. I was trying my best to console him through the gap in between the seats but all the while my mind was screaming – Yes, Yes, Yes! Therefore I didn't really catch what their fight was about, but from what I heard he wasn't all that caught up about it, as everything he described he rolled his eyes at. Typical Harmony was as usual being over dramatic about the whole situation. I got up on my seat and took a look at the back of the coach to see her huddled in the corner, arms crossed, blatantly sulking. I couldn't help but smile.

As it was still very early in the morning, most of the people on the coach fell asleep almost instantly. It seemed most people, like Faith and I, had spent all of last night packing or partying at the local nightclub. Spike and Faith had fallen asleep too, so for a while I chatted to Willow and Oz but eventually they fell asleep on me as well, like everyone else they had also had a late night. So in the end I sighed in defeat and proceeded to listen to my mix CD I had made consisting of Michelle Branch, some music I had borrowed from Faith and Dingoes Ate My Baby, Oz's very successful college band.

It took two and a half hours to get to Folkestone and luckily for me, we were going by the Euro Tunnel so I didn't have to suffer the torment of the rough sea - believe me I would have thrown up everywhere! Once we were on the train and it started moving, I looked round and noticed everyone was asleep again after waking briefly due to the excitement of arriving at the Channel Tunnel. So I decided to get off the coach and go for a walk to stretch my legs. I noted that the coach was at the back of the last carriage and decided to take a walk to the front, talking to random people off the other coaches on the way. When I eventually reached the front, feeling much better for the short walk, I decided I needed the toilet and went in search of the nearest one, which just so happened to be in the same carriage. I instantly decided that it was one of the weirdest places that I had ever been to the toilet, being underground and on a train; I decided it also wasn't something I wanted to experience again in a hurry.

When I exited the toilet I noticed Spike walking in my direction and due to the confined space, I couldn't avoid him. The early morning had definitely taken it out of him and he still looked generally tired. I think the whole Harmony saga had also something to do with it and the fight had really taken it out of him - I can imagine her being a right handful when she gets in that type of mood!

"Hey Buffy."

"Spike." I smiled at him.

"I was looking for you, what you doing?"

"I got bored being the only one awake so I just decided to go for a walk. Why? - Were you looking for me?"

"Well I thought… you know… we could… talk." He said shifting from one foot to the other somewhat uncomfortably.

"About what?" I said confused, clearly not knowing what he could possibly want to talk to me about.

"I don't know - How about … how your date was the other night?"

"How did I know you would bring that up?" I said instantly angering "Just leave me alone Spike - My private life… is well… private! And it shouldn't bother you!" With that I tried to push past him but he grabbed hold my wrist, keeping me in front of him and started speaking to me in a hushed but serious tone.

"It does bother me Buffy."

I began to become very aware of the wall up against my back and Spike's body pressed against mine as he held onto my wrist tightly.

"Why should it Spike?" I sounded harsh and tried to push against him, which only made Spike hold me tighter, so much so that it began to hurt - I barely noticed.

"You think me and Harmony breaking up was just a coincidence? I was only dating her so I had someone to go out with, you don't know what you do to me."

Truly I didn't - I had spent so long denying that he had any feelings for me that it was as if I had wholly convinced myself that it could never be true. But all of a sudden, with his admission I was beginning to feel it, my knees instantly went weak. This was all I had ever dreamed of since I had first set eyes on him, was it real? Spike, the guy of my dreams was telling me that he actually liked me and all I could do was stand there and stare back at him. If it hadn't been for the strong grip Spike had on my wrist, I swear bringing me back to reality wouldn't have been possible.

"Spike … I -" I choked out.

"B where have you been? A call went out for getting back on the coach about five minutes ago. Giles asked me to come find you."

"Yea sorry Faith - I'm coming." Spike let go of me and began to saunter past me, not before whispering to me in that sexy intense voice of his.

"Just sort it out Buffy - we'll talk later."

Then he was gone, making his way back to the coach. I followed shortly after, trying desperately to compose myself, however I was finding it hard to hide my shaky legs and heavy breathing. Why did he always do that to me? Faith didn't say anything to me but just gave me that, we'll talk later look and followed Spike down the train.

Things were definitely getting interesting.


	5. Chapter Five: Saturday Afternoon

***Chapter Five: Saturday Afternoon*******

After my little encounter with Spike I decided to actually get some sleep, as my mood wasn't helping me or anyone around me for that matter. Once I was back to my seat, which for a second I forgot that it happened to be in front of Spike's, he gave me one of those knowing looks, which never fails to turn my tummy inside out. I mentally kicked myself for letting him have such a hold over me and promptly sat down after squeezing past Faith who for some reason insisted on having the aisle seat.

However trying to get some sleep proved rather difficult, my little talk with Spike had left me feeling rather restless and had me thinking about everything that was going on between us, soon the whole issue began to get too much for my brain. I decided I had to cool myself down so I laid my cheek against the cool coach window, as my cheeks were beginning to get quite hot by this point due to all my pent up frustration. There was at least three hours left of the coach journey, but this wasn't what was on my mind as I drifted off to sleep.

I woke with a start and when I finally managed to open my eyes, I found Faith talking to Spike and Xander through the gap in between the seats. Xander, who had obviously fallen out with Drusilla, was sitting next to Spike in the empty aisle seat, arms folded clearly despondent. Faith was openly flirting with Xander and when I looked round the chairs at Spike we shared a knowing look, both of us could clearly see what she was up to, Xander as usual was clearly oblivious. I immediately found the source of my rude awakening, Drusilla, making a hell of a lot of noise at the other end of the coach. She was mainly yelling in Xander's direction but she was also yelling out other ramblings directed at no one in particular -definitely insane- It looked like I wasn't the only person who was rudely awoken, as other people were complaining about it around me. Mr Giles, who also startled awake, then promptly yelled at her to calm it down, which completely shut her up and everyone cheered.

I decided that now I was wide-awake I might as well stay that way. So I decided to join in with Xander, Faith and Spikes conversation. That was until I couldn't stand Spikes eyes boring into me anymore so I had to listen to my CD once again. I was halfway through 'Goodbye to You' when I felt the vibration from my cell phone signalling that I had a text message. Not surprisingly, it was from Angel saying that he missed me and asking me to call him when I got to the hotel. Great all I need I thought, a five hour conversation of how much he was missing me and that he wishes that I was at home with him.

When we had finally reached the hotel, phoning Angel was the last thing on my mind after the long journey, so after grabbing my key from the receptionist and rejoicing that I would be sharing a room with Faith, we together made a beeline for the elevator and let the doors close before Drusilla could pull her stuff into it. Our room was on the top floor, the fifth floor and we felt we really had to applaud Mr Giles on his excellent taste in hotel. It was very modern and well decorated even though the staff looked outdated. Apparently the hotels renovation had just been finished and now the old staff didn't match the décor, which was Xander's lame attempt at a joke. The fact that we had to share a room with Harmony and Drusilla rather dampened the excitement of finally arriving at the hotel. But on the plus side Xander, Spike and Oz had the room opposite, which made Faith and I feel much better.

The room was quite large with two twin bedrooms, Faith and I managed to get one room together so Harmony and Drusilla would have to share. Luckily, for us Harmony was still trying to argue with the receptionist downstairs. She was trying to get a single room for herself, as she stupidly thought that's what she would be getting. However it was proving rather difficult for her as she didn't speak a word of French and the receptionist didn't understand any English so it was all rather amusing and of course, we had by passed Drusilla at the bottom of the elevator. Unfortunately, there was only one bathroom to share between the four of us, which I could see might cause problems. At least our bedroom had an en-suite toilet and basin, hence why we chose that certain one - getting to the room first had its advantages! The main room had a spacious living area with a couple of couches and a TV; however the TV was without cable or satellite so it was French programmes for the whole five days. There was also a small kitchenette off to the side of the living area.

Most of the group was going out to explore but as it was quite late I decided to stay in the hotel and have a look round. There were forty-two rooms in the hotel but thankfully a lift between its five floors. The lobby was rather large with a big dining hall to the left opposite the elevator, which looked very pleasant. I also managed to find a large indoor swimming pool with a spa off to the side and a small patio and garden with a hot tub beyond the pool. Deciding to have a dip, I went up to my room to change into my swimming costume only to be greeted by Spike slouching against the doorframe of his room when I opened the door.

"Evening Summers."

"I'm starting to think you've become my stalker." I said locking the door behind me, throwing my towel over my shoulder and pulling my complimentary dressing gown closer around me. I was beginning to feel very aware of how little clothing I was wearing underneath.

"No just observant," I gave him a really confused look "My room overlooks the pool I saw you walking around out there."

"Right." I started to walk off.

"Mind if I join ya Summers?" He called after me.

I turned but I didn't get chance to answer as I was cut off by the shrill tone of my mobile phone. Extracting it from my robe pocket I was horrified to see it was Angels name flashing on the screen, I'll show Spike I thought.

"Hey baby, how are you?" I said smugly and leaned back against the wall opposite Spike.

"Buffy - why didn't you call me? You must have got there about 2 hours ago - I've been worried!" I straightened up instantly and became very aware that Spike might be able to hear every word Angel was saying.

"Sorry honey I was busy." I said rather hushed. I was beginning to feel very flustered, I avoided any eye contact with Spike and as usual, I could feel his eyes boring into me.

"Too busy to call me?" He said angrily, practically shouting at me down the phone. I was certain now that Spike could hear him and a look in his direction told me that he could.

"No … I just … you know… had to unpack and everything." I said quietly.

"I'm really missing you; will you please call me tomorrow when you're less busy?" He replied and I couldn't help but cringe when I caught the dejection in his voice.

"Yea sure, I'll call you tomorrow." I said unenthusiastically.

"Bye - miss you."

"I miss you too." I said half-heartedly.

"I Love you."

"Love you too - bye" I rushed and hung up before he could say anything else.

"What did the big poof want?" Spike said making a show of looking at his fingernails, pretending to be uninterested.

"Leave it Spike will you." I said rubbing my temple and walking off in the direction of the elevator, not looking back once. I heard him sigh in frustration and as the elevator doors closed, I heard his door slam.


	6. Chapter Six: Sunday Morning

***Chapter Six: Sunday Morning*******

My first thought as I stretched out my limbs in my post sleep haze was - yes! Its Sunday a whole day of sleep and relaxation - quickly followed by – Oh no Shit! I'm in Paris on my Art trip, loads of stuff to do! - And at this thought I snapped open my eyes, grumbled and rolled over, pulling the duvet over my head. My solace was short lived.

"Rise and shine." Faith said pulling back my covers very unceremoniously and shoving a hot steaming cup of coffee under my nose, which I gratefully accepted.

"I still can't get over you being a morning person." I grumbled taking a sip of the coffee, relishing in the taste and smell.

"I thrive on little sleep B, you should know that," She replied with a wink "All this extra sleep is making me feel rather energetic." She said sitting down on the edge of her bed opposite me.

Again, all I could do was groan and Faith just watched on in amusement, as I tried to pull myself out of bed, which was proving rather difficult due to some heavily aching muscles.

"What did you get up to last night?" Faith asked in a suggestive manner. I looked at her and rolled my eyes.

"Nothing like that!"

"Like what?" she said innocently, which it was anything but.

Again I gave her a look and found myself feeling rather aggravated by the whole conversation, even though I knew it was just playful banter. "If you must know I went for a swim last night while you were all out."

"That's it?"

"Yea that's it." She just frowned at me and began going on about a club they all went to last night.

I knew Faith didn't believe me when I said what I got up to the previous night, but at least I knew I was telling the truth. She didn't need to know that my encounter with Spike and the call from Angel had really rattled me and my gentle swim turned into a more fast-paced kind of swim. I kept pushing myself further and further trying to block out the thoughts swimming around inside my head. Eventually my chest burned for relief and I threw myself at the edge of the pool gasping and spluttering trying to get myself under control. Once I had managed to calm myself down. I took my first look around the pool since I got in and I was relieved in the fact that the pool was deserted. So I grabbed my things, made my way back to my room, and collapsed into bed without dinner.

I was vaguely listening to Faith recalling her adventurous night out as I was finding something to wear. I eventually choose a pair of skinny fit jeans and a soft pink tank top while remembering to make it sound like I was playing attention by murmuring agreements every now and again. I was halfway into my jeans when she said -

"- And then Spike just stormed in and went straight to the bar."

I almost fell off the one leg I was balancing on but managed to steady myself on the bedside table before I fell over.

"Hold on, Hold on - Spike was there?"

"Yea. Why?"

"No reason. It's just that he was here before I went for my swim, I just assumed he stayed here last night as you guys had long been gone before I saw him."

"Well obviously not. He stormed right into the club making a rather loud entrance I might say, no one missed it that's for sure. He made straight for the bar and that's where he stayed all night."

"Did he say anything to you?" I asked, but guessing by Faith's kindness towards me this morning I guessed not.

"I was hoping you could tell me? But going on your previous question I'm guessing not." She said with a frustrated sigh, I just held my tongue.

"Did you not get anything out of him last night?" I asked pretending to be interested, but really just looking for an escape out of the conversation.

"Not really. He said a few incoherent things while the boys carried him home."

"That bad huh?" I said pushing down the pang of guilt whilst trying to remind myself he had been an absolute arse to me.

"Yea It was quite funny at times he kept saying things like - stupid poof - and – I can't do anything right - He also kept saying your name."

I laughed, somewhat nervously, "I wonder why -" and began busying myself with dressing again knowing deep down she wouldn't let it drop.

"Hmm yes … I wonder why … So do you want to tell me what happened on the train?" She said leaning against the doorframe.

"Not really." I said pushing past her in search of my boots "Why don't you ask Spike?!" I shouted back ignoring the glare from Harmony who was perched on one of the sofas, clearly eavesdropping.

"I did. He told me to speak to you!" She said emerging from our room and watched me incredulously as I tried to pull my boots on.

"I can't help you then," I said giving up trying to push my jeans into my boots "I don't know what he wants."

"He said the same thing about you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I said standing up to face her.

"I don't know, but anyone can see you're not happy."

"That's bullshit; I've got everything I want."

"Have you though?" Faith said crossing her arms over her chest.

"Of course I have. I've got everything a girl should dream of."

"Are you every girl though? All Spike said to me was that he was waiting for you to fix it."

"How can I? When I don't know what he's talking about?" I said unable to stand still, turning around in frustration, running my hands through my hair.

"Buffy are you blind?"

"I don't understand any of this and I can't believe you're on his side." I said gesturing wildly, turning back to face her.

"I'm not on anyone's side, anyone can see that Spike is -" Faith said lowering her voice at the last part.

"Save it!" I said cutting her off and storming out of the hotel room.

"Buffy please talk to me!" I heard as the door slammed closed behind me.

I was so mad that it took me a while to decide what to do once I got to the lobby. My rumbling stomach soon made up my mind up for me and I made for the dining hall. The fact that I didn't have any dinner the night before made me grab one of everything I could find. I turned round with my overloaded tray of food and saw Willow and Oz waving at me so I made my way over to them.

"Woh Buff! Are you feeding an army?" Willow joked; I smiled back and wasted no time diving into my tray of food.


	7. Chapter Seven: Sunday Afternoon

***Chapter Seven: Sunday Afternoon*******

Luckily for me this day on our trip was saved for personal study whereas most of the other days in Paris were predominately organised, structured trips. Even though this was the case, we still had to report to Mr Giles before we left so he could make sure we were actually studying and not playing hooky. In addition to letting him know where we were going we had to see him so he could give us our assignment for the day.

Today we had to study architecture, I decided to tag along with Willow and Oz and we jointly decided that we would head to the Arc de Triomphe. I was really excited about visiting the landmark, as it was somewhere I really wanted to go to since I learnt we were going to Paris. I wasn't too keen on going anywhere on my own and I really wanted to avoid Faith and Spike, I wasn't in the mood for another full-blown argument with either of them.

Once I had let my massive breakfast digest, we collected our assignments from Giles and I quickly made my way up to my room to collect my camera and my sketchbook. I was hoping to avoid Faith as I wasn't exactly ready for round two and frankly really didn't know why it got so heated in the first place. I still wasn't sure why I let talking about Spike affect me so much.

Unfortunately for me the object of my thoughts was standing in our hallway looking very worse for wear, which made me smile. Then I felt bad once I saw the pain in his eyes, which was something I definitely couldn't put my finger on.

"Spike." I said coldly, trying to walk past him, which proved quite difficult as he was stood right in the middle of the hallway.

"Buffy, wait," He said in an almost pained tone, grabbing hold of my arm as I tried to walk past him. The tone in his voice made me stop instantly and look straight at him. "I wanted to apologise for yesterday … you know for what I said to you when you got off the phone to Angel, it was stupid and I didn't mean to upset you."

I was so taken aback and completely lost for words, the last thing I expected was for him to apologise. Spike wasn't one for apologies but the sincerity in his voice was unmistakeable, all I could do was stare back at him. We just continued to hold each other's gaze, lost in our own little world.

Once I found my voice again, I still struggled to express what I wanted to say. Again in his eyes, I saw something I didn't want to admit to, that I couldn't believe, but it filled me with confidence none the less.

"Spike I …"

At that moment, Faith chose to make her exit from our room and break the moment.

"Hey Guys. What's up?" She asked looking between us, clearly noticing that neither of us could look the other in the eye.

"I just come up to get my stuff." I mumbled rushing past Faith into our room, slamming the door shut behind me. This seemed to break Spike out of his daze.

"Did I just interrupt something?" Faith asked. Spike said nothing and after that, the only sound that could be heard was the slamming of his door. "What is up with everyone today?" Faith shouted into the empty corridor, making her way to the elevator.

It took me a while to calm myself down; however once I got it together, I grabbed my stuff and headed down to the lobby to meet Willow and Oz.

We took the metro to The Arc de Triomphe, which is located at the western end of the Champs-Elysées and spent a good two hours there taking pictures and making sketches of the sculptured sides and the magnificent arch itself. When we were done we took the metro back to our hotel, meeting everyone in the canteen for lunch. We used the rest of the afternoon to write up notes of our day and to relax.

That night we all decided to make a night of it, seeming as it was our first proper night in Paris. After all the guys in our group had discovered that we were in the Montmartre district they booked us a table at the Moulin Rouge for a champagne dinner and to watch the full cancan show.

I looked around as we entered the building and was glad to see that the Moulin Rouge was just as distinctive and gaudy as I imagined it would be. As we sat down for dinner and I felt someone tap me on the shoulder.

"B can I have a word?" I turned to see a sheepish looking Faith stood behind my chair wringing her hands.

"Sure. I'll be back in a minute guy's." I announced to the rest of the table, Oz nodded in my direction to acknowledge that he had heard me. We walked over to a quieter corner, over near the toilets, where there wasn't as much going on.

"What's up?" I said crossing my arms over my chest.

"Look I'm sorry B; I don't want to fight with you. You're my best friend and I hate to say it, I've missed you today, Spike hasn't exactly been the easiest person to spend a day with."

"I'm sorry too, I don't know why I got so angry at you this morning, I should have apologised sooner. I guess I was just being stubborn," Faith snorted at this, it was definitely what she was thinking "But I want you to know something … Your right." I said quietly.

"About what?" Faith said genuinely confused.

"I'm not happy, I haven't been happy for a long time. I'm not in love with Angel, I never have been." I said taking a deep breath when I was finished talking, it felt so good to get it off my chest.

"I'm not going to say I knew it or anything like that, even though I did," I smiled at that, my Faith never changes "But I just want you to know that I'm here for you if you ever need to talk, I promise I won't judge you, ever." I hugged her fiercely.

"You want to go back?"

"Sure." I said smiling back at her. Arm in arm we walked back to the group. I made to sit back down at my place at the table. However I changed my mind when I saw a lone figure stood at the bar, so I excused myself and made my way over to him.

"Hey you." I said leaning my back to the bar so I could face him "Decided to join us after all?"

"Yea, better than sitting alone in my hotel room and all." Spike said giving me a genuine smile.

"Planning on drinking yourself into another stupor?" he glared at me "I was kidding." I said putting my hands up in defence.

"You heard about that then?" he said taking a swig on his beer.

"Oh yea, big time, got a big earful about it from Faith."

"You did?" he said with a frown.

"Yea, she thinks it had something to do with me." I said turning around to face the bar, trying to get the attention of the bartender, failing miserably.

"Oh, why would she think that?" he said turning to face me.

"Coz you kept saying my name over and over again." I said unable to look him in the eye.

"Oh." it was his turn to look uncomfortable.

I suddenly thought it was time to change the subject. "I didn't get chance to thank you earlier," at his confused look I elaborated "You know for apologising to me -"

"No problem Summers." he said giving me a knee weakening smile "You want a drink?" he said turning to face the bar.

"Sure" I said smiling up at him.


	8. Chapter Eight: Monday

***Chapter Eight: Monday*******

I cracked one eye open and the pain was so great that I shut it instantly. I groaned and again attempted to open both my eyes, all the while trying to remember how I had got myself in this state - Oh yes, now I remember, Beer Bad! - I also had a distant memory of trying to recreate the cancan show for the boys sometime last night - Oh God! - Now my eyes were wide open.

I tenderly sat up and rubbed my eyes until they gained focus and noticed that the opposite bed was empty. I looked down to see I was still in the outfit that I had worn out the night before, however now it was somewhat more rumpled. I was having trouble remembering what had happened to Faith and how I got back to the hotel, let alone my room. Deciding that a shower was the best idea right now I gingerly got out of bed, grabbed my robe and wash bag and felt my way to the bathroom.

Once in the shower I didn't dare move, any movement I made seemed to make me dizzy. So in the end I just settled for resting my head against the tiled wall and let the water fall down over my head and down my body.

Stumbling my way back to my room I was glad to see Harmony and Drusilla were still asleep and disappointed that Faith's bed was still vacant. I had many questions to ask her, like how the hell did I get myself in such a state last night and how did I manage to get home in said state. But guessing as she wasn't around this morning she probably didn't know the answer to the latter.

On my way to my chest of draws, I tripped over last night's shoes that had been placed neatly next to my bed and it suddenly all came flooding back. I suddenly remembered stumbling home in said shoes, again trying to do the cancan and deciding that I couldn't walk no more, I collapsed into a pair of strong arms, Spike's arms. Seeming as I couldn't remember anything after that moment I assumed Spike had carried me home and - Oh God - had to put me into bed. - Beer very Bad! -

As I was not feeling my best, I dressed in my pink hoodie and a pair of cut-off jeans and made my way down to the dining hall. I decided quickly that I had no appetite at all, so I just grabbed a large glass of orange juice and a piece of dry toast and made my way over to the only two people I recognised in the hall, Spike and Oz.

I could feel Spike's eyes boring into me, as usual, as I approached the table and I merely grunted a response when I set my tray down and took a seat. The over exertion of the walk over to the table made me put my head in my hands to keep my head from spinning.

"Still feeling rough luv?" Spike said and I could hear him and Oz chuckling between them.

"Ugghh" I responded.

"I better go wake Willow, see you guys later." Oz said as he got up and made for the lobby. I shot my head up at this and just looked longingly at his retreating back, I wasn't sure if I wanted to be left alone with Spike just yet. Again, I shied away into my hands.

"UGGGHH-" I heard Spike chuckle "How come you're not hung-over?" I asked speaking into my hands as to not see the gloating look on Spike's face.

"I didn't drink much, only had a couple of beers."

"Whys that?" I asked, now making a move to look at him.

"Had a girl to look after..." A few minutes past and neither of us said anything, Spikes last statement still hung in the air.

"Oh – Sorry about that," I said genuinely embarrassed "Buffy and beer are unmixy things -" I said twirling my piece of toast in my hands.

"I've sort of guessed that." He said leaning back in his chair, trademark smirk in place.

I couldn't help but smile back at him. "Seriously though – thanks for everything." I said with a pointed look.

"No problem luv," He said with an equally intense look. "Everything come rushing back this morning then?"

"Oh yea," I said taking a sip of my juice and a bite out of my toast "Not right away though – all came flooding back when I tripped over my shoes, I'm so embarrassed."

"Ah don't worry about that, I found it all rather amusing."

"I bet you did." I said laughing and promptly throwing my crust at him.

After breakfast Spike and I decided to wait outside the hotel for the rest of our group, as most of them were still dragging themselves out of bed. We thought it would be a good idea as I could do with getting some well needed fresh air and Spike could have a sneaky cigarette. Once they finally surfaced, we made our way to the Right Bank in the centre of Paris via the Palais Royal - Musée du Louvre metro to The Louvre museum.

Our agreement to explore the vast museum together as a group was short lived. The newly recoupled Faith and Xander made it quite plain that they wanted to spend some alone time together, It also quickly became apparent to me why I was escorted home by Spike and not my best friend last night. Willow and Oz made for the gardens so the only people left in the group were Spike and me.

Spike was quite happy to tag along with me to visit the big masterpieces housed in the vast museum so this is what we spent most of our day doing, coupled with the usual messing around that came hand to hand in spending time with Spike. I had never felt so alive running through the corridors my hand in his, laughing and joking as the various rooms blurred by. This happened quite often, as annoyingly every corner we seemed to turn Harmony seemed to be there, I swear that girl is taking up stalking as a profession.

Just before lunch we made a trip to see the La Pyramide Inversée (The Inverted Pyramid) luckily for us the place was almost empty so I sat underneath the pyramid and began to take some pictures.

"So what's the deal with you and Harmony?" I said stealing a glance in his direction while focusing my camera.

"Not much to say really, she's a nice girl." I scoffed mid picture.

"Seriously, I really liked her." Spike said fumbling with his own camera.

"Then why aren't you with her?" I asked standing and making my way around to the other side of the pyramid.

"I don't know – Sometimes she can rather childish and I didn't like the way she flaunted daddy's cash. It really makes me feel really inadequate, coz I couldn't afford to take her out as often as I'd liked to."

"Did you actually tell her any of this?" I asked coming back into his view, he looked sheepish "I guess you just yelled then." I said with a smile, I knew him too well.

"We kinda fought... a lot." Spike said looking down at his shoes.

"Do you want to be with her?" I asked stepping towards him.

"I don't know, mostly yes," He said in a low voice "She's the finest of second best."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked looking up into the pyramid, I felt Spike move in close to me.

"Well I can't have who I really want, can I?" I heard his camera click and I turned to face him, a question evident on my face.

Before I could answer Faith and the other guys showed up. Most of them didn't catch my impression of a fish gasping for air, unluckily for me Faith did. We all decided that we should go in search of lunch and Faith and I made a detour to the restroom together, she cornered me as soon as we got through the door.

"You need to tell him how you feel Buffy." She said as soon as the door closed behind her.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, rounding on her, clearly confused.

"Spike of course! – I caught the last part of your conversation out there." She said hands on her hips.

"I can't… I can't promise him anything, it would only make things worse." I said turning from her and began pacing the room, clearly ignoring the fact that I had pretty much admitted my feelings for Spike right there in front of her, I no longer cared and wasn't surprised at all that she knew.

"He needs to know, besides you said it yourself, you're not happy and Spike obviously cares about you," at my look she carried on "Besides if you guys don't do something about this I'm going to knock your heads together!" Then she added more softly. "If you hear it from him you're more likely to believe him aren't you? And he won't say anything till he knows how you feel."

I smiled at her; for once, I knew she was right. I slowly gathered myself together and plucked up all the courage I could muster and let Faith escort me out the bathroom. The scene that greeted me broke my heart. I was faced with Spike and Harmony all wrapped around each other. No thoughts passed through my brain and before I knew it, I was sprinting towards the exit.

"Buffy wait!"

I ran as fast as I could and didn't stop until I reached the metro. Grabbing my mobile out of my pocket, I scrolled down to Angel's number and pressed call. It seemed to ring forever, however he didn't pick up and strangely enough a part of me was relieved. I stuffed the phone back into my jumper and made my way back to the hotel, collapsed into bed and cried myself to sleep.


	9. Chapter Nine: Tuesday

***Chapter Nine: Tuesday***

I had planned on staying in bed all day, not feeling in the mood for social interaction. Once Faith had finished trying to cheer me up, failing miserably of course, she reluctantly made her way to join the rest of the group and I settled further into my bed, intent on not moving for the entire day. Nevertheless, once I just got comfortable, the next thing I knew I was being dragged out of bed by Willow. She had heard that I had feigned sickness to get out of the days trip so she offered to stay behind to keep me company and because she was a hardworking student and had promised to make up on the day's work, Mr Giles had allowed her to. However keeping me company in my room was the last thing on her mind. So instead of lying in bed brooding I was made to get up, change out of my comfortable pyjamas and was dragged to a nearby café.

"What's going on Buff? You're never yourself anymore, tell me what's wrong." Willow said paying for our coffee and gesturing to a table outside in the sun.

I followed behind her and sat down at the table "I don't know Will. To be honest I don't feel myself anymore. The only time I do is when I'm with…"

"Spike?"

"Yea." I answered quietly looking into the dark depths of my cup.

"There's nothing wrong with that Buffy. Angel is a nice guy and all; He's just not right for you." Willow answered with a matter of fact.

"But is Spike the right guy for me? Every time I go to let him in, he runs away. I can't tell you how many times I've heard - It's probably best if we just stay friends - and every time we get too close I always find him in the arms of some bimbo." I said frustrated.

"Have you told him how you feel about him?" Willow asked looking directly at me.

"No… I'm not one for rejection. I didn't want to tell him for him to turn around and tell me he doesn't feel the same way."

"Has he told you he doesn't have feelings for you?"

"No." I answered instantly.

"Do you think he does?"

"I honestly don't know. Sometimes I look at him and I think I see it in his face but it's hard to believe it when he keeps running away from me."

"Whether you like to believe it or not. We all can all see it, how much he wants you."

"I wish I knew it were true. There is only one way to know but I guess there is no point talking to him now as he's back with Harmony. Maybe it's for the best, maybe it's a sign I should make a go of this thing with Angel."

"Maybe … But do you want to?" It was one question I just couldn't answer; I knew then that I had some thinking to do.

After we finished our coffee we decided to order lunch and then go back to the hotel for a swim. Willow convinced me to join her and Oz and the rest of our group on their trip to the Eiffel tower that night; I agreed under the condition that Spike and Harmony wouldn't be joining us.

This didn't look like it would be a problem once we got back to the hotel. A rather distracted looking Spike was sat in the Lobby of the hotel with an overly agitated Harmony sat on the opposite end of the overly stuffed sofa, arms positively folded. Spike shot me an intense stare as I walked past, which caused me to frown and feel the need to walk faster to the elevator. As the doors closed behind me I cast another look in his direction, Spike was back to looking distracted and Harmony was looking ever more agitated.

The view from the top of the tower was amazing and I felt so at peace looking down over at the vast city. I didn't realise I was alone until I heard a voice and a presence behind me.

"Buffy."

"Spike please... just leave me alone." I replied without bothering to turn round and face him. I instead folded my arms closer around myself as I looked out at the city, suddenly feeling the chill in the air.

"Have I done something wrong?" I couldn't help but turn to look at him then, hearing the sadness in his voice.

"No of course not." I answered with a sigh, suddenly wondering why I was so mad at him.

"Then why did you run out of the museum earlier?" Spike asked cocking his head to look at me in that way, the way that makes me not want to look into his eyes.

"I don't know - nothing seems to make sense anymore." I said quietly, turning to walk further around the tower to get some distance away from Spike and his questions.

"Bloody tell me about it, getting back with Harmony was supposed to make it all better." Spike said throwing his hands up in frustration.

"Make what better?" I asked stopping mid step and turning back to face him.

"Never mind." Spike answered quickly, clearly annoyed with himself for what he said in his little outburst.

"Spike tell me." I said stepping towards him and became instantly aware of how alone we really were and beginning to fill the first spots of rain.

"Why? It will only make things more complicated."

"Aren't things complicated enough?" I was mere inches away from him now.

"I guess… bloody hell… Being with Harmony is what I've wanted for a long time; she made me happy, when we weren't fighting of course. Now when I'm with her -" He paused fighting with himself on how best to answer me.

"Spike please?" I whispered as the heavens opened and the rain pelted down on us.

"When I'm with her, you're all I can think about and nothing seems to be able to stop me -"

"Why couldn't you have said this all before – before I found someone who cares for me?" I interrupted, practically yelling back at him over the rain, throwing my arms up in aggravation and began pacing back and forth.

"How could I? You're so happy, I didn't want to mess things up for you!"

"God Spike, why didn't you say anything?" I said coming to a stop.

"I don't know. I guess I was scared… About this," He said gesturing between us. "I realised today when I saw the look on your face, you feel something for me too and I know I should have told you long ago… but it's always been you Buffy, you're the one I want, nothing stops me from wanting you."

"Oh god... why didn't you tell me?" I said putting my head in my hands, the pouring rain shielding the tears rolling down my cheeks.

"What's wrong?"

" … That night at the Bronze … I was coming to tell you that I had chosen you and not Angel."

"What? You didn't show. I waited for you and you never showed and then the next day at college you were with him!"

"I was there Spike. I was just too late, you were all over Harmony and I knew then that you didn't want me after all."

"That's not true. I wanted you then and I want you now but I can't have you and it kills me, seeing you with him, seeing you happy and knowing I can't touch you completely."

"I'm not happy." I said in a whisper.

"What?"

"I'm not happy; I haven't been for a long time." I said looking up into his eyes.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I could see you were happy with her and after that night at the Bronze I really didn't think you wanted me."

"Do you love him?" Spike asked suddenly.

"How can you ask me that?" I asked defensively, caught off guard by the question.

"Buffy… Do you want to be with me?"

"I'm still with Angel I can't hurt him like this, he's a good man."

The sound of my phone ringing broke through the loud pouring of the rain, one look at the caller ID told me all I needed to know.

"Then tell me you don't love me." Spike pleaded.

"I can't." I said shaking my head, braving a look at Spikes face.

"Then what are you going to do?"


	10. Chapter Ten: Tuesday Continued

***Chapter Ten: Tuesday Continued*******

I stood there numbly in front of Spike, my phone in my palm as I stared at Angel's name flashing on and off the screen, only the sound of the shrill tone of my phone and the pelting rain could be heard in the silence.

"If you answer that phone, then this is over, I will know you've chosen him and I'll go back to Harmony." I continued to stare blankly at my phone not knowing what to do or say.

"… I'm sorry Spike… he deserves better than this." I answered so quietly that I wasn't sure he had heard me at first. He saw all he needed to know when I quickly pressed the answer button and brought the phone to my ear. "Hey Angel."

Spike stood there and stared at me for at least a minute, as if he was trying to memorize my face and without a second glance, he was gone and I was alone.

"Hey Buffy, how's the trip going?"

"Uh fine thanks." Angels overly chirpiness momentarily threw me off.

"Good, that's good" Something was definitely off, where was the brooding and over possessive Angel I was used to?

"Erm... how you been? I asked slowly making my way down the tower.

"Great thanks." He answered with unusual enthusiasm.

"Oh right - good… Erm I tried to call you the other night…" I remembered suddenly and began to feel rather nervous about the answer I was going to receive.

"Oh yea about that, I'd gone out with a couple of the guys … to a party." I frowned.

"What you - You went to a party? Wow! Who are you and what have you done with my boyfriend?" I laughed, remembering this was how it used to be, before things got complicated.

"Buffy-"

The tone in his voice made me stop in my tracks; he had suddenly turned serious. "What's wrong?" I was worried.

"…I don't know how to tell you this but I've met someone…"

"Oh." It was something I was not expecting and completely knocked the wind out of me.

"I'm really sorry, I was going to wait till you got home but I didn't think it was fair on you." To his credit, he generally sounded sorry and part of my heart broke, as I knew he deserved better than I for all the misdemeanours I had done behind his back.

"I completely understand - it isn't working is it?" I admitted.

"We were happy once weren't we?" He asked hopefully, as if to know all the effort he had vested in me hadn't been for nothing.

"We were." And I truly meant it; it was my fault we had got to where we were.

"Sorry it had to end like this."

"I'm sorry too."

"I want you to know that a part of me will always love you."

"I love you too." Then he was gone. And for the second time I had chosen the wrong man.

I couldn't blame Angel for what had happened, it was my fault for not ending it sooner and he deserved to be happy. I felt guilty for letting him think that he had cheated on me when in a way I had done the same thing to him over and over again. I should have told him the truth, I should of followed my heart and chosen Spike instead of doing what I thought was right, because what did I have left? Nothing, I'd lost them both.

Once that realisation hit me I felt the cold stabbing me like a knife, I was soaked through. Too tired and cold to move quickly, I dragged myself to the metro, my hot tears mixing in with the cold rain on my face.

"Hey, here she comes – Buffy over here!" I looked up to see Willow waving her arm franticly in my direction. It's not as if I wouldn't have seen them, they were the only people in the station. "Hey, is Spike with you?" Faith asked when I joined the group; I couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes.

"No."

"Oh I thought you guys were up there together… Spike said he wanted to talk-." Xander said before I cut him off.

"Spike bailed okay! Can we just drop it?" I said a little more sharply than I intended.

"Buffy are you okay?" Willow asked gently.

"I'm… I'm fine…" I choked out, staring at my shoes willing the tears not to come.

"Buffy-" Then I broke down. "Buffy what happened?" I felt myself being pulled into Willows arms.

"Can we just go back to the hotel please?" I sobbed.

Once we made it back to the hotel, I couldn't feel my body at all. The cold and wet had penetrated all of my clothes and soaked into my skin. Faith led me up to our room and plonked me down on my bed and started wrapping me in towels while Willow towel dried my hair.

"Buffy tell us what happened. You're clearly upset about what happened up there." Willow said handing me a cup of tea and sitting on the bed opposite mine, while Faith took a seat next to me.

"Spike … he … he told me everything, told me that I was all he could think about and that he wanted me." I said staring down into my tea.

"Oh my god - about bloody time!" Faith shouted throwing her hands up into the air dramatically.

"What - you knew?" I asked staring directly at her.

"Of course I knew everyone knows! Anyone can tell he's in love with you!"

"Why didn't anyone tell me?" I yelled back, slamming my tea down on the bedside table.

"I've been trying to tell you for months!" Faith yelled back at me.

Willow frowned at Faith and then continued. "Then what happened? Obviously this didn't end in hugs and puppies, did you tell him how you felt about him?"

"I didn't need to –" I sighed heavily, stood up and began pacing. "It all went wrong when he asked me if I was in love with Angel."

"What did you say?" Faith asked.

"What do you think I said? I told him not to ask me that, I know I shouldn't have got so defensive but he was my boyfriend and I did love him."

"Was your boyfriend?" Willow asked a confused look planted securely on her face. a glance at Faith showed she was wearing the same expression.

"I'm getting there – the phone rang and it was Angel. Spike made me choose, him or the phone … and I did the right thing … I couldn't ignore Angel, I thought he deserved better. So Spike left me and Angel dumped me, he's found someone else."

"Oh god Buffy." Willow said holding her hand out to me.

"Why didn't I follow my heart?" I asked to no one in particular, plonking myself down on the bed again, putting my head in my hands.

"Buffy it might not be too late, if you just told Spike how you feel he might come around." Willow asked hopefully.

"It's no good, I didn't choose him for the second time and now he's gone and I've lost my chance. I just hope he doesn't do anything stupid"

"Why would he do that?" Faith asked incredulously.

"He told me to tell him I didn't love him."

"What did you say?"

"I told him I couldn't."


	11. Chapter Eleven: Tuesday Night

*******Chapter Eleven: Tuesday Night***

Faith and Willow decided that we needed a break from all the drama and convinced me to leave the confines of Faith's and my room for a girl's night in, in the living area. We had just settled down in front of the TV, to attempt to watch 'Plus belle la vie' with a cup of tea, when the slamming of the door had us all quickly glancing in its direction, to see Harmony pointing an accusing finger directly at me.

"I don't know what you've done, but I'll never forgive you!" She yelled and stormed around the sofa to face me in a flurry of pink and super blonde hair.

"What do you mean?" I asked generally confused.

"Spike just broke up with me."

"Harmony I'm sorry, but I don't know what it has to do with me?"

"Isn't it obvious? He's completely in love with you, and he's leaving me for you!" She yelled gesturing wildly. I could see Faith smirking out of the corner of my eye and Willow trying to stifle giggles at the mad display Harmony was portraying.

"I don't know what you're talking about! If you must know he did tell me he had feelings for me but I turned him down, he also said he was happy with you!" I said gesturing at her, finding it hard to believe that Spike had broken up with her after all he had said up the Eiffel Tower.

"Obviously not! He told me he couldn't be with me anymore as he was in love with someone else and always will be. Then he stormed off and said he couldn't be with anyone if he couldn't have her. I knew he meant you, even I'm not that stupid." She said actually sounding defeated, I even felt sorry for her as she plonked herself down on the sofa. I quickly realised she had been messed around by this whole drama too and my heart went out to her. She like Angel had been an innocent party to Spike's and my feelings.

"Where's he gone?" Faith asked, a frown marring her face.

"I don't know, he was pretty upset, he was crying." Harmony said slumping into the couch, a crestfallen look on her face.

Faith was on her feet and halfway into her coat when she asked "Did he leave the hotel?"

"Yea, just before I came up here." Harmony said a confused look on her face.

"Find him." I said desperately to Faith who was halfway out the door, Willow on her tail.

"Why are you so worried anyway, you just said you turned him down?" Harmony asked.

"Because I know what he's like, I don't want him to do something stupid because of me."

"Why did you turn him down?" Harmony asked sincerely.

"I was trying to do the right thing." I said with a half-smile.

"What's changed?" Harmony asked.

"I know now I chose the wrong guy."

"Do you love him too?" Harmony asked with a smile.

"More than I realised." I replied looking down at my hands, trying to fight back tears.

"So what about Angel?" Harmony asked, turning to face me on the sofa.

"We broke up, tonight in fact."

"Really?" Harmony asked with genuine sincerity, reaching out to touch my hand in a consoling way.

"Yep, it was amicable actually. He's met someone else and both agreed in wasn't working between us so we called it a day. But to top off, all but five minutes before I had basically told Spike I loved him and he asked me to choose between him and Angel and I chose Angel, I feel so stupid now."

"What did you do that for?" Harmony said a little too shrilly. I smiled to myself at how quickly the tables had turned, one minute I was her worst enemy and next we were two friends gossiping about boys. I was surprised that I actually enjoyed talking to her, even though I had found her annoying in the past.

"Because I'm an idiot and I didn't want to break up with Angel over the phone. He meant more to me than that, to end it that way. Funny how things turn out isn't it?" I laughed ironically.

"What happened with Spike?" she enquired.

"We were talking, getting things out in the open when Angel rang. Spike told me to choose between the two of them otherwise he would go back to you, he asked me to tell him I didn't love him and I couldn't. I've really messed up, Spike is the one I want, I know that now, he made me choose and I did what I thought was best." I said putting my head in my hands. "I'm sorry; I know how hard this must be for you to hear."

"Na don't worry about it, I don't want to be with someone who's not in love with me." She smiled at me. "But are you okay Buffy … Really?" Harmony said scooting closer to me and placing a reassuring hand on my knee.

I took a while to answer, almost shocked at my own words. "I'm fine … numb but fine" I said raising my head to look at Harmony again. "I'm happy for Angel, he deserves better than me." I replied quietly, my shoulders slumping in defeat.

"Don't talk like that." She said embracing me fiercely and patting my back to comfort me.

"What I mean is… I couldn't give him what he needed, I didn't love him like the way he loved me … I hope whoever she is… I hope she makes him happy."

"And what about Spike?" Harmony asked unable to hide the expectancy in her voice.

"I'm glad he knows how I feel about him now - but I turned him down, he gave me one chance and I chose Angel as I thought it was the right thing to do, but again I was wrong. I messed up and there's no going back."

"Maybe if you spoke to him…" Harmony started.

"No. He was serious that this was it, I hurt him by choosing someone else and he will never forgive me now. I just wish I could talk to him, tell him I made a mistake - but then again if I was in his shoes I would just think I was going after him now that I was dumped."

"You will just have to try and talk to him, let him know everything, I'm sure he will understand." She said quietly.

"God I'm such an idiot." I said throwing my head back against the sofa.

"Come on don't worry about it, it will work out, you'll see." She said with enthusiasm.

"I wish it could but I'm not convinced, I don't want to set myself up for heartache again. I've messed up big time."

"Just talk to him and you'll see."

I looked back at Harmony seriously "I am sorry you know, it's not fair for you to get caught up in all of this, I know you love him too."

"Look don't worry about it." She said waving her hand dismissively "I'm totally over it."

"Thanks." I said smiling to myself, sometimes Harmony's fickleness wasn't all that bad.

"No prob, I want you guys to be happy; you both deserve it, you're meant to be together."

I could do nothing but smile back at her.


	12. Chapter Twelve: Wednesday

***Chapter Twelve: Wednesday*******

I wasn't quite sure when I had fallen asleep but I began to wake just as the light started shining in through the main room window. I sat up and stretched my limbs and cursed when my neck cracked, sleeping on the couch definitely has its disadvantages! I looked over to see Harmony curled up on the over sofa, I was quite surprised on how well I had got on with her. We had spent all evening watching French soap operas and movies and having a right giggle. I genuinely hoped that we could now be friends, especially now that we knew where we stood with each other. What I was even more surprised at was Harmony giving me her blessing to pursue Spike, which I thanked her for greatly. It turns out she has a heart after all and a romantic one at that.

Stretching my arms over my head, trying to no avail to work out the kinks in my back, I threw back the duvet that Harmony must have covered me with and made my way over to my room to find Faith's bed unsurprisingly vacant. I figured Faith had stayed over with Xander again and I hoped she had managed to locate Spike last night before he did anything stupid.

Deciding to keep myself occupied while it was still early and hoping it would relieve the pain in my back, I changed into my swimming costume and tracksuit, grabbed a towel and headed down to the lobby to take a swim. As I walked past the restaurant, I spotted Willow and Oz and made my way over to them.

"Hey Guys."

"Hey Buffy" Oz smiled.

"Did you find him?" I said smiling back at Oz and turning to Willow.

"Yea, he's up in his room. Faith decided to stay over with him and Xander to keep an eye on him."

"Is he alright?"

"Yea, he wasn't in a bad state, he was really upset though, couldn't get much out of him."

"Did you tell him about me and Angel?"

"Faith tried but he wasn't really listening, he was really upset, so we just decided to get him home."

"Are you going to talk to him, tell him what happened?" Oz asked.

"I think so, I've got to try and build up the courage first and that is if he'll talk to me."

"What's holding you back?"

"I just don't want him to think that he's the rebound guy now that Angel broke up with me."

"You guys are made for each other I just know it, I'm sure he'll understand." Willow said with fervour.

"I hope so. I realise now that I can't lose him."

"We all know he's hot headed. If he doesn't listen to you I'll get hold of him and give him my resolve face." Willow said, putting on said face.

"Thanks Will. I'll see you guys later I'm going for a swim I need to calm my nerves." I said jokingly.

"This is huge Buffy, I can't believe it, I'm so happy for you."

"I just hope he listens to me." I said in gloomily, making my way to the pool.

Feeling much better after my swim, I decided to join the rest of the group for the morning's trip to the Notre Dame Cathedral. After calming my nerves and building up the courage to face Spike I was left rather disappointed when he didn't show, the same was said for Faith and Xander. Willow explained that the three of them had had a rather late night and were given permission by Giles to miss this morning's trip as long as they promised to head out for the afternoon's personal study of our choice, which they had readily agreed. On one hand I was pleased that I had more time to prepare before I tried to speak to Spike and on the other hand, the waiting was leaving me feeling like I was at breaking point. Feeling conflicted; I headed out with Willow and Oz as a despondent third wheel.

For my personal study session I decided to head to Jardin du Luxembourg, despite the protests from Willow about me going alone. Eventually I managed to convince her to let me go on the condition that I would contact her if I had any problems. I had been desperate to visit the gardens ever since I had read Les Misérables and had fallen in love with the love story of Marius Pontmercy and Cosette. I was also looking forward to getting pictures of the gardens, fountains, ponds and the palace for my Paris photo album.

I spent a good couple of hours walking round the gardens, stopping to take pictures and make sketches here and there. I also spent a good half hour watching two elderly French men playing a game of chess in the chess area of the gardens, they even obliged in letting me take their photo. Taking a break, I decided to sit under one of the many trees in the gardens, I quickly dropped a text to Willow to let her know I was still okay and lay back on my jacket staring up into the branches softly blowing in the breeze.

I felt myself beginning to drift off when I found myself cast in shadow, opening my eyes to discover the source of my instant shade and was startled when I saw Spike staring back at me.

"Spike? What are you doing here?" I asked startled, moving to sit up straight away.

"Willow said you wanted to see me." Spike said, looking anywhere but at me. I really felt sorry him; I don't think I had even seen him look so sleep deprived and downtrodden.

"Ah did she now?" I was going to kill her "I think you've been led here under false pretences, I didn't say anything to Willow but I guess she wanted to get us in the same place so we could talk, we do need to talk about last night."

"I'm not sure I want to hear what you've got to say." Spike said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Spike I love you, I made a mistake last night." I said standing up, so I could look him dead in the eye, I needed to show him the sincerity in my eyes.

I wasn't surprised at all when I saw the anger break out on his face, I was fully expecting it "Oh so you've come crawling back to me now that your honeys left you?"

"Oh come on it's not like that." I said taking a step back from him, my shoulders slumping in defeat. It was as if he had voiced my inner most fear of what he would think.

"Then what is it like Buffy? Coz I'm having trouble getting my head around all this."

"I know I can't take back what I've done, but it's always been you Spike."

"Bollocks, if you loved me that much you would of chose me!" He yelled, jabbing himself so hard in the chest, I wondered how he hadn't hurt himself.

"I'm not that girl Spike I couldn't cheat on Angel, I just needed time to sort things out with him."

"Time - Would you have even left him?"

"That's not the point and it's not something I can prove to you now is it? If I had known Angel was on the same wavelength as me I wouldn't have waited till we got home to end things but I thought I was doing the right thing by waiting to do it in person. Besides you said you were happy with Harmony, I thought you'd be okay."

"Harmony is just … Harmony - it's over now anyway but she was just a distraction to me because I couldn't have you."

"She deserves better than that." I said angrily, suddenly feeling protective of my new found friend.

"Yes she did, that's why I broke up with her I couldn't keep hurting her. Why do you care about Harmony anyway, you've never liked her."

"I was wrong about her, I've spent some time getting to know her and I can't bear what we've put her through. You might not think it but she's not been as oblivious to what's been going on as you and I think she's been."

"Then why didn't she just leave me?" He asked in confusion.

"Because she had feelings for you to - We had a long chat last night and she's forgiven both of us, she's forgiven us because she knows now that I feel the same way about you as you do me, she just wants us all to be happy." I said taking a step towards him and laying my hand on his arm. "The question is though, can you forgive me?" I said in a small voice and waited on baited breath for his reply.


	13. Chapter Thirteen: Wednesday Continued

***Chapter Thirteen: Wednesday Continued***

"How can I not forgive you? I love what you are, what you do, how you try... I've seen your kindness, and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you. And I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You're a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy." He said taking me into his arms and giving me an earth shattering kiss.

"God I love you so much." I said leaning in to kiss him again. "I can't believe this is happening."

"Believe it baby, now that I have you I am never letting you go."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Hand in hand we took a slow leisurely walk back through the gardens and made it back to the hotel around six. My rumbling tummy alerted me to the fact that I had forgotten to eat anything all day and so we headed straight for the dining hall. I didn't expect the whole gang to be seated in the hall and laughed to myself when I saw an array of shocked faces when Spike and I entered the hall hand in hand.

Feeling like making the gang wait I held my head high and marched to the counter and made sure I took my time in selecting my meal.

"What you doing luv?" Spike asked with a laugh.

"Making them wait." I said smiling back at him at which he winked at me in reply.

Once I felt like they had waiting long enough I gestured to Spike that I was ready to head over to the table and walked on ahead as Spike followed carrying our tray. I smiled to myself when I saw Willow bouncing in her seat in anticipation with Oz rolling his eyes next to her. One quick look at Faith confirmed that she had her trademark smirk in place, I winked back at her. When we reached the table we acted like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, I took a seat next to Faith which also happened to be opposite Willow and Spike sat beside me. Once we were both seated we both took our meals and drinks from the tray and began to eat.

"You have a good day guys?" Faith asked breaking the silence and smirking at us both.

"Yea good thanks." I replied, taking another forkful of my lasagne.

"Are you guys seriously not going to say anything?" Willow practically yelled at us, she clearly couldn't keep patient anymore.

"About What?" Spike asked in mock confusion, barely containing a smile. Willow made a big show of letting out a rather loud audible sigh which made Oz shake with contained laughter. When we still didn't say anything she crossed her arms and pouted.

"What's wrong Will?" I said mimicking her pouty face.

"Are you guys going to tell us if your together or not" She whined and Spike and I burst out laughing.

Turning towards each other we broke out into a full out make out session to whooping noises from Faith and shouts of Get a room from Xander. When we broke apart I looked at Willows gobsmacked face and said "Does that answer your question?"

A smile broke out of her face and she clapped her hands gleefully "Yay!"

"So guys it's our last night in Paris, I think we should go out and celebrate!" Xander said slapping his hands on the table.

"Yes we should!" Willow replied enthusiastically "We also have to celebrate Buffy and Spike FINALLY getting together too!"

"Oi!" Spike said trying to sound wounded.

"Sorry guys!" She said smiling in our direction "I think we should head over for the group drinks first and then hit La Machine?"

"Sounds good." Spike replied.

Finishing dinner we all headed up to our respective rooms to get ready for our last night out in Paris. Faith headed straight for the shower and I entered the living area to wait for the bathroom to become free and was greeted by Harmony.

"Hey Buffy."

"Hey Harmony, how you doing?" I replied taking a seat next to her on the sofa.

"I'm great thanks! Now tell me, have you sorted out things with Spike?" She asked turning off the TV and swivelling round to face me.

"Yea, we had a long talk and things are all good now."

"Are you together now?" She asked excitedly.

"Yea we are." I replied with a shy smile.

"That's awesome, congratulations." She said, surprising me with a hug.

"Thank you. Are you sure you're okay with this? I really hope that we can be friends now."

"Of course it's all forgotten" she said waving her hand dismissively.

"Do you fancy coming out with us tonight? We are going out to celebrate our last night in Paris!"

"I'd love to! I'll go get ready and meet you back here?"

"Sure." I smiled back at her and made my way over to my room to gather the stuff I needed for the shower. I didn't have to wait long before Faith appeared towel drying her long hair.

"Showers all yours."

"Thanks, I invited Harmony out tonight I hope that's okay." Faith gave me and incredulous look. "Give her a chance, I'm sure your get on once you get to know her, she's really quite sweet."

"You sure it's a good idea now that you are with Spike?" Faith asked taking a seat on the edge of her bed.

"I wouldn't have invited her if I didn't think it was okay. Besides I've spoken to her about it and she's perfectly fine about the whole situation."

"Okay if you're sure." Faith replied smiling at me. I knew once Faith had sussed out Harmony for herself they would get along like a house on fire. I gave Faith a hug in reply and made my way to the shower.

Once Faith and I were ready we met an already waiting Harmony in the living area and made our way into the hallway to call on the boys. We were greeting by a very over excited Willow who instantly jumped at Faith and I for a group hug. When she finally let us go I noticed Harmony talking to Spike, Harmony nodded in my direction laid a hand on Spikes arm and moved over to talk to Willow.

Spike made his way over to me and placed his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into his side.

"Evening Summers, you're looking hot tonight." He said placing a kiss atop my head.

I laughed in reply, striking a pose. "Well thank you, not looking to bad yourself."

"Thanks Luv."

"Everything okay?" I asked, nodding my head in Harmony's direction at Spikes confused face.

"Umm yea, Harm just wanted to let me know that she was really happy for us, said you were a really great girl." He said looking down at me; I smiled up at him in reply. Harmony really was a nice girl.

"Come on lovebirds." Faith yelled back at us, breaking our moment, as she followed the rest of the group down the corridor.

"Were coming!" I yelled back, Spike and I briefly shared a kiss and we ran to catch up with the others.


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Thursday

***Chapter Fourteen: Thursday***

The only thought I had when I came to was - oh god how has this happened again – my head was killing, I felt like the room was spinning and I hadn't even opened my eyes yet. Not daring to move I lay as still as I could and tried to remember how I had let myself get into this state again.

Leaving the hotel last night we headed out to meet the rest of the group for drinks, arranged by Giles, for our last night in Paris. Giles had made reservations for us all at The Ice Kube, which is an urban ice bar in Montmartre Sacré-Cœur area and the only one of its kind in Paris. Arriving at the bar we were all handed a winter parka and a pair of gloves which was a source of much amusement, Spike particularly looked extremely cute in his coat and I was so glad I managed to snap a pic of him, even if he was scowling in it. I started think a big part of my current state was down to the unlimited free vodka you get as part of the half hour you are given in the bar. We got into the spirit of things at the bar and managed to get plenty of pictures of our group drinking out of ice glasses whilst sitting atop ice furniture which was a right laugh.

It was so nice to see the whole class together as it was the first time we had seen a lot of people since we had all caught the coach Saturday morning. It was the first time I had seen Drusilla all trip, despite her sharing a room with Harmony I had luckily managed to avoid spending anytime with her. We had quite a giggle at her sullen dark looks encased in her massive parka and gloves, she looked hilarious. According to Harmony after her scene on the couch on Saturday, Giles had kept her under strict supervision to make sure she was getting on with her work in Paris; I guessed this had something to do with her more than usual sullen expression. Unfortunately her gaze was cast on us for most of the half hour in the bar, due to the massive public displays of affection between Faith and Xander, neither who noticed a thing.

When our half hour was up in The Ice Kube, our group, Faith, Xander, Willow, Oz, Spike, Harmony and I headed to La Machine which is a three-floor bar/club/live venue with an awesome Alice in Wonderland-style décor. Regrettably this was all I could remember of our big night out; my memory was rather hazy after this point. – Vodka Bad! –

Groaning out loud I threw my arms over my eyes and my elbows collided with a very hard chest and my eyes shot open, which I instantly regretted as the sun was streaming in threw the window. I still managed a small smile to myself as I remembered that Spike was finally mine. I instantly buried my face into his hard chest and groaned again, which caused Spike to chuckle and put his arms around me.

"Did I completely make an arse out of myself last night again?" I asked with my voice somewhat muffled in Spikes chest.

"I wouldn't say that…" Spike said tailing off, desperately trying to hold back a laugh.

"Oh god what did I do." I said looking up into his eyes.

"Well there were some interesting dance moves…"

"Shit!" I replied burying my head again.

"I wouldn't worry about it luv." Spike whispered, hugging me tightly.

"Hmm, what's the time babe?" I said looking around trying to spot a clock, watch or phone.

Spike leaned over to my bedside table to retrieve his phone and said "Ten to ten."

"We better get a move on; we've got to catch the coach at eleven." I said making a move to get out of bed, instantly wishing I hadn't bothered as a wave of nausea hit me and I rushed to the bathroom.

I felt awful. I wanted the world to stop spinning. I needed to get my head off my porcelain pillow and have a shower. Using the rim of the toilet I lifted myself off the floor and onto my feet. I finally managed to steady myself, turned on the shower and stepped inside. The water didn't do much in the way of soothing my pounding headache though but at least it soothed my aching over danced limbs.

Once I was finished in the shower I walked back to Faith's and my room to find Faith packing my suitcase.

"Hey B, how you feeling?"

"Like death! You don't have to do that," I said pointing at my suitcase "It should be my punishment or something."

"Na, don't worry about it, I've already done mine. Just focus on getting ready, the coach will be here in twenty."

I then noticed that she had laid out my favourite hoody and matching bottoms "God I love you."

Faith laughed in reply "Don't let Spike hear you say that! You can just owe me a beer."

"Urgh don't even mention beer, I'm never drinking again." I retorted, pulling my head through my hoody.

"Yea, yea, we'll see at the next Dingoes gig." She sniggered, zipping up my suitcase and placing it on the floor. "Ready to go?"

"All set." I replied, as I tied my hair into a bun. I really didn't feel like I could face the noise of the hairdryer this morning.

Faith and I joined the long queue of people waiting for the elevator and I silently cursed the fact that there was only one small one in the whole hotel. When we finally made it to reception and handed in our key, the coach had already arrived. In no time I was slumping into the seat next to Spike and he pulled me into his arms.

"Sorry about this morning, I promise it's all of my system now." I whispered pulling him in for a chaste kiss.

"Don't worry about it luv, it happens to the best of us." Spike replied squeezing my shoulders.

"Except you, you mean. I swear you are never hung-over!" I replied grumpily. Spike just laughed in reply.

It didn't take long for the rest of the group to file onto the coach and in no time we were on the move. I was fighting sleep as I stared out wistfully at the streets of Paris, missing it already. When we reached the outskirts of the city I lost my battle and fell into a deep a peaceful sleep.

Opening my eyes I expected to see French countryside rolling by however I was startled to see English countryside instead. I felt Spike kiss the top of my head, acknowledging that I was awake and I stretched out my aching limbs and moved in for a hug.

"God, how long was I asleep for?"

"A good four or five hour's luv, you must have needed it."

"Must have, sorry I haven't been good company."

"Not at all, I love watching you sleep." I smiled at him in response and stared out of the window.

"I miss Paris." I said with a pout.

"We'll go back one day." Spike said, following my gaze out the window and resting his chin on top of my head.

"Promise?"

"I Promise."

I kissed Spike soundly in response and as the many spires of Oxford came into view I cuddled further into his arms and I honestly thought life couldn't get much better than this.

The End

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Please review, I would love to know what you think of the finished story :)


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